A charity auction organized by Fall Guys developer Mediatonic ended Monday with a $1 million joint bid by content creators Tyler "Ninja" Blevins and Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson, esports organization G2 Esports and first-person shooter training program Aim Lab.
Ninja, MrBeast, G2 and Aim Lab's combined bid will bring four new costumes Fall Guys designed around the winning contributors. Their $1 million contribution will benefit U.K.-based gaming-focused charity SpecialEffect.
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The contest, which began on Aug. 17 with a tweet from the official Fall Guys Twitter account, garnered considerable interest and bids from brands and celebrities around the globe. It quickly turned into a bidding war, with the eventual four winners making individual offers in the early stages.
"We knew we had a unique design for a Fall Guys skin, and our community was about it 100 percent," G2 head of creators Britanni Johnson told ESPN.
The dollar value kept rising until at the 11th hour, all four parties came together for the $1 million offer.
"We just wanted to place a bid and have a little bit of fun for a good cause," G2 founder and CEO Carlos "Ocelote" Rodriguez said. "Ninja reached out to me, Beast and Aim Lab to make this amazing contribution together, which we ended up doing."
SpecialEffect is a charity organization that works to help people with physical conditions that prevent them from using typical controllers. Its options include everything from modified controllers to eye- and voice-control systems.
"Participating was a no-brainer," Wayne Mackey, the CEO of Aim Lab, said in a Twitter message. "My sons and I play Fall Guys on PS4 -- we have so much fun, but damn, we are even worse than TimTheTatman. The opportunity to get a skin in one of our favorite games and support an amazing charity like SpecialEffect, it was an automatic and enthusiastic yes on our side.
"Getting to team up with our pals at G2, along with Ninja and MrBeast, just made it even more awesome. Aim Lab has always been devoted to improving the lives of people inside gaming and outside. Whether that is through directly supporting organizations like SpecialEffect and Gamers Outreach, donating essential equipment to NYC hospitals during the pandemic, or helping stroke survivors recover more quickly, this is the kind of impact we try to have every day."
🏆 BIDDING IS FINISHED 🏆
— Fall Guys 👑 (@FallGuysGame) August 31, 2020
THE WINNERS ARE:@G2esports @Ninja @AimLab @MrBeastYT
With a combined donation of $1,000,000 for @SpecialEffect
Probably the spiciest team up since The Avengers??????https://t.co/Q2G3h9UyDh
Following the winning bid, Ninja posted a video on his Twitter account revealing that a Fall Guys charity stream will be organized at some point in the future from which the proceeds will also be given to SpecialEffect.
"I want to give a huge shoutout to Fall Guys for just changing the game and creating an amazing, friendly family gaming atmosphere and being super inspirational on Twitter and giving us the opportunity for this challenge," Ninja said in the video.
"We're blown away," SpecialEffect founder and CEO Mick Donegan said in a statement. "When the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions hit earlier this year, the charity was facing a significant reduction in funding income due, in part, to many of its key fundraising events being canceled or postponed. As a charity that doesn't charge for its services, this donation will be invaluable in helping to make up for that shortfall. It will enable us to continue an uninterrupted service for the many people with severe physical disabilities and developers around the world who are asking for our help in ever greater numbers year on year."